'Indy 4' writer to pen and direct 'Houdini' biopic

Jeff Nathanson will write and direct Summit Entertainment's movie adaptation of William Kalush and Larry Sloman's 2006 Harry Houdini biography, The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The book insinuates that Houdini was a spy for Britain and that his death was payback for his debunking of con artists who pretended to be spiritualists. Nathanson has the right mix of adventure and character in his credits. Nathanson wrote on two Rush Hour movies as well as Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Catch Me If You Can, and The Terminal.